For one of my latest assignments I have been required to keep a ‘story journal’. The idea is that we look for stories (folk or fairy tales, etc.) write up a summery, find the ‘bones’ of the story, and explain how we would adapt them for different audiences. This has been a bit of a challenge for me as, while I love playing the actress, I’m not really a fan of being the person deciding what to perform. I’ve never been particularly great in front of a group if I’m required to ‘act’ as myself. I do much better as some assigned character. There is just something very telling and personal about an individual in what they choose. Plus, improv has never been my strong suit.
This class is originally supposed to be for library students going into school or children’s libraries, which is one area I have absolutely zero interest. I tend to lean more toward non-fiction drama, local native stories, and things that tend to be creepy.
So I guess this is me asking if anyone has read any good short stories that could be told aloud by a single individual. I’m completely open to ideas or genres.
House of Tweed 
Oooh, yay! One of my personal favorite creepy stories is Kafka’s “In the Penal Colony” — if it’s okay for you to use a translated work. I haven’t read the English version, but in German it’s pretty gruesome/bizarre!:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Penal_Colony
And I think you could easily dream up different versions with the same basic moral, for various audiences.
Husband has a couple of short story suggestions he’d like me to pass along: “Babycakes” or “Troll Bridge” by Neil Gaiman.
Also, could you get away with using the story “The Tale of the Three Brothers” within Harry Potter? Just a thought. 🙂
I love all the suggestions! Thanks so much!! I hadn’t heard of the German one, and we are encouraged to use stories that have gone through different versions and translations. I’ll certainly look that up, it’s right up my alley. As for the the hubby’s suggestions, it’s kind of funny because I just bought a book by Neil Gaiman last week. He must be popular!! I’ll check to see if Babycakes or Troll Bridge is in it for sure. I reeeaaally appreciate the suggestions. (And in writing them on here. It’s so easy to go back and find them. After I posted this several people just came up to me and would tell me things I needed to read. I’ve forgotten most of them by now) Oh and I totally used The Tale of the Three Brothers 🙂 Great minds!